Main menu

Legislative Highlights

The U.S. Constitution states that “The Congress shall have Power…To make all Laws.” The original laws enacted by Congress are preserved at the National Archives. This page highlights some of the most historically significant laws Congress has passed throughout the nation’s history.

An Act Providing for the Expences Which May Attend Negotiations or Treaties with the Indian Tribes, August 20, 1789

Congress has the constitutional authority to regulate relations with American Indian tribes. The First Federal Congress delegated responsibility for Indian Affairs to the Secretary of War and, on August 20, 1789, passed the Indian Treaties Act—the first of many appropriations to fund U.S.-American Indian treaty negotiations. For the next century the treaty-making process dictated relationships between American Indians and the U.S. government. These formal agreements between two sovereign nations were negotiated by the executive branch on behalf on the President and approved for ratification by the Senate.

General Records of the U.S. Government, National Archives and Records Administration

The Homestead Act, May 20, 1862

Congress passed and President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act on May 20, 1862. The act encouraged western expansion by awarding settlers 160 acres of land in exchange for a small filing fee. The act required settlers to be or to become U.S. citizens, to have never borne arms against the United States, and to reside on the land continuously for five years in order to receive the land title. Through 1986, when the last claim was made in Alaska, the act distributed an astonishing 270 million acres of land.

General Records of the U.S. Government, National Archives and Records Administration

Pacific Railway Act, approved July 1, 1862

To realize the vision of a transcontinental railroad and telegraph, Congress passed and President Lincoln signed the Pacific Railway Act. This act designated the route and offered land grants as incentives to private companies to complete the segment west of the Missouri River. It also assured the government’s access to the line.

General Records of the U.S. Government, National Archives and Records Administration

Morrill Land Grant Act, July 2, 1862

Signed by President Abraham Lincoln on July 2, 1862, and named for its greatest advocate, Representative Justin Morrill of Vermont, this act provided the first Federal support to higher education. It distributed Federal land to states to sell, with the proceeds used to fund public colleges. These new land-grant institutions, which focused on agriculture and mechanic arts, opened up opportunities to farmers and working people previously excluded from higher education. Many major state colleges and universities were chartered as land-grant schools.

General Records of the U.S. Government, National Archives and Records Administration

Joint Resolution proposing the Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, February 26, 1869 Joint Resolution proposing the Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, February 26, 1869

Passed by Congress February 26, 1869, and ratified by three-fourths of the states on February 3, 1870, the Fifteenth Amendment granted African-American males the right to vote. The amendment was only the beginning of the struggle for voting rights. Over the next century many blacks were denied the right to vote by a series of state laws, fraud and intimidation. It was not until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and subsequent legislation that African Americans were assured of their right to participate in U.S. elections.

Records of the United States Government, National Archives and Records Administration

Joint Resolution Proposing the Seventeenth Amendment to the Constitution, passed by Congress on May 13, 1912

The seventeenth amendment provided for the direct election of Senators.

The Constitution specifies that state legislatures are to elect senators, while the population is eligible to elect members of the House. Senatorial elections, however, often led to deadlock and left some states without their full Senate representation for months at a time. Citizens also feared that well-funded special interests and political machines were inappropriately influencing election outcomes. Reform finally came in 1913 when the necessary three-fourths of the states ratified the seventeenth amendment.

General Records of the U.S. Government, National Archives and Records Administration

An Act for the Release of Certain Persons from Service or Labor in the District of Columbia (D.C. Emancipation Act), April 16, 1862

The Constitution grants Congress exclusive authority over the District of Columbia. As the Civil War continued, Congress used this power to end slavery in Washington, D.C. On April 16, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed an act for the immediate release of the approximately 3,000 enslaved persons in D.C., nine months before the Emancipation Proclamation. The act of Congress also compensated former slaveholders who were loyal to the Union, and created for former slaves a system of voluntary emigration outside the United States. Today, Washington, D.C. celebrates April 16 as Emancipation Day.

General Records of the United States Government, National Archives and Records Administration

“Title IX” of the Education Amendments of 1972, June 23, 1972

Title IX—part of a larger education act passed by Congress in 1972—prohibits sex discrimination in education programs receiving federal funding. It applies to all educational activities with some exemptions for religious and military schools, fraternities and sororities, and youth service organizations. Title IX has helped narrow the gender gap in mathematics, law and science programs, but is most widely credited with increasing opportunities for young women in athletics.

Records of the United States Government, National Archives and Records Administration

An Act Providing for the Education of Colored Children in the Cities of Washington and Georgetown, District of Columbia, May 21, 1862

As the Civil War intensified in the spring of 1862, Congress passed the D.C. Emancipation Act, officially ending slavery in the nation’s capital. Nevertheless, abolitionists believed additional legislation was needed to secure rights for African Americans. This law, signed by President Abraham Lincoln on May 21, 1862, established a system of public schools for the education of African American children in the District of Columbia. The law also made persons of color in the capital equally subject to the same criminal laws as free whites.

General Records of the U.S. Government, National Archives and Records Administration

An Act to Establish a Department of Agriculture, May 15, 1862

On May 15, 1862, President Abraham Lincoln signed legislation creating a department dedicated to the interests of American agriculture. Nearly half of all Americans lived on farms, and there was an increasing need to consolidate information and promote agricultural resources. In his fourth—and final—annual message to Congress, President Lincoln called it “the People’s Department, in which they feel more directly concerned than in any other.” Its creation laid the foundation for agricultural policy today. Congress elevated the Department of Agriculture to cabinet-level status in 1889.

General Records of the U.S. Government, National Archives and Records Administration

Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946, August 2, 1946

The Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 brought about some of the most significant organizational changes ever made to the U.S. Congress. The act improved legislative oversight of federal agencies after World War II and helped Congress match the growing power of the executive branch in shaping the national agenda. The reorganization drastically reduced the number of standing committees in both the House and the Senate. The act also expanded the Legislative Reference Service (today’s Congressional Research Service), which provides Congress with information on the increasingly wide-ranging, complex issues that come before it.

General Records of the U.S. Government, National Archives and Records Administration

The Jay Treaty, Exchange Copy, November 19, 1794

On November 19, 1794, American emissary John Jay signed the Treaty of Amity, Commerce, and Navigation, between His Britannic Majesty and the United States of America, better known as the Jay Treaty. The treaty’s intent was to reduce escalating tensions between the two countries. While the British promised to leave their military posts in the Northwest Territory, they refused to end interference with American trade and shipping or compensate for slaves freed during the Revolutionary War. Federalists believed the treaty would prevent war with Britain but Republicans thought it too high a price. The Senate narrowly approved the treaty on June 24, 1795.

General Records of the U.S. Government, National Archives and Records Administration